Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Wise ones

In the year 2000, at the turn of the millennium, the National Catholic Reporter newspaper ran a contest, inviting artist to produce a rendition of Jesus for this time. The winner, “Jesus of the People” was painted by New England artist, Janet McKenzie. You can see it here. https://janetmckenzie.com/joppage1.html

I came in contact with Janet’s work a couple of years later when Orbis Books (Maryknoll) published a book, Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: the art of Janet McKenzie. It included reflections for each piece. Joan Chittister, OSB, wrote the reflection for “The Visitation.”

Through this project Orbis sent us prints of some of Janet’s other works and the one that really impacted us was the one called “Epiphany. We framed it and use it annually.

It features Janet’s usual androgynous people, both in gender and race. But, if you look closer you can see that they are definitely female. What a wonderful visual of the Magi, especially as it portrays women as the wise ones from the East.

It is eye opening when you first begin to experience such things as: to reading commentaries of biblical books from the point of view of the women involved; seeing visuals such as this that feature women as the principal players or discovering the spiritually rich material now available from a woman’s perspective, as well as a man’s.

So be sure to watch for wise men and wise women--both travel through our lives.



Sunday, December 27, 2020

Sharing our "joy"?!

That time of year has come again...what time is that, you ask? The time when I share with all my friends in California, my cousins in Florida and the Carolinas and friends everywhere who grew up in Erie or visited often as a child, the snowy winters of the Great Lakes.

We had our first lake effect snow of the season December 25 and 26, and it was a winter wonderland for Christmas. I was so happy for the kids. They say Frontier Hill and Peak 'n Peak were full of sledders and skiers.

Here's a look at our 20.8" that fell on those days:

Looking out my bedroom window, with a huge amount of snow on the bird feeder. 
That's my yellow ruler to give you perspective!!

Here's the magnolia tree in the inner courtyard taken from a sister's room on 2nd floor. 
See how the bottom limbs are almost lying on the snow!

And here's a shot looking outside at 6:30 am on Christmas morning.
An outside security light gave some light, but otherwise it was pretty dark.

Friday, December 25, 2020

Quite idyllic

 Waking Christmas morning to 5-6" of new fresh snow and these: 


The male is a little squeamish, comes if the indoor lights are off!

 The female, however, comes right over to the window feeder--and stays!


Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Christmas 2020

 

This year our chapel Christmas tree is lovely. Quite perfectly shaped. A perfect height and even, for the first time that many of us can remember, adorned with little lights.

We are very much enjoying the ten minutes before Morning Prayer when only the tree and the Advent wreath are lit in the dark chapel. Quite a special moment.



Here it is all by itself.

Please know of a special and continual remembrance in our prayers and prayer services,  for all of you and for your loved ones, at this unusual and really quite sad Christmas time. Let us be good to each other--and for all those in our families and local communities.

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Mild December gifts

 


December has been a mild one---so far. Here in Harborcreek we have had barely 4" of snow and daily high temperatures in the 40s and, just lately, 30s. Among the benefits that such mildness brings are these two fishermen who we ran into last weekend when we were walking down to the lake through our Glinodo property. 

They are seen here leaving for the day, each of them dragging two very large fish (Walleye??) hanging on hooks that they are holding...what does that make the fish, about 24"? At least, I would say.

So instead of making ice fishing plans on the bay, which has to have a minimum of 4" of ice, I believe, they are still enjoying the flowing open waters of all of the creeks emptying into Lake Erie. Especially ours: Seven Mile Creek.

Merry Christmas to them...and happy fresh fish dinners to all.


Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Around the house

Here are a couple of "projects" around our house right now. The first is a project that one of our novices organized. With the help of many Sister-elves (I know, corny!), they produced 50-60 ceramic Benedictine crosses as Christmas gifts to our neighbors at Benetwood Apartments. This year our annual dinner with them had to be cancelled, so hopefully this makes a nice substitute neighborly gesture to our friends there.

A second "project" is a special collection idea. The committee of sisters who were interested in organizing Advent/Christmas events, came up with this idea in lieu of exchanging Kris Kringle gifts this year. It also satisfies the need we all have to help the people of our city in some way. This photo shows the four boxes into which we can put our donations. Some sisters choose only one, some put in something in all four. Either way, hopefully these organizations will get some much-needed support from the Benedictine Sisters of Erie this Christmas: local needy children and adults, assistance to families at the Mexican border, a group working on Black Lives Matter, and the community Christmas collection cause.



Sunday, December 13, 2020

City Art

I talked with a lovely gal, a traffic engineer in the city's traffic office, this week. Here's the story I got from her. 

She was visiting friends in Montana a couple of years ago and notice painted boxes around the city. She was so taken with them that when she returned home she talked about them at work. One thing led to another, as many good ideas do, and, after applying for a grant to the Erie Arts and Culture group, the traffic dept. erected four boxes over their traffic control equipment right in downtown Erie around Perry Square. The boxes were painted by a local artist, and all show beautiful flowering plants and bushes of our region.

They were such a hit that they applied for a second grant and, lo and behold, they received the OK for more "city art." Now 15-20 more of these unique pieces can be found again built around traffic control boxes throughout the downtown area. This time they each showcase special people or groups of people that are important to Erie, as one of the sides of each box details their history.

What a wonderful thing for our city. Thank you to L. at the City of Erie traffic department!



Here's one of the original four.

This one is at 8th and Parade St. and honors the founder of Kraus Dept. Store. 

The side not shown here gives a brief bio. on him.



 This is one of a number that offer "Welcome" to the many new citizens 
who have come into our community during the last few decades.

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Our favorites

 


Today I am showing this photo, my first good "catch" of the chapel south windows. It was taken about 12-15 years ago now, but at exactly this time of year--the first week of December. It was on a Saturday morning, about 10:00 a.m. I was in the dining room vacuuming the carpet, when a friend ran in and said, "Come, you have to see the chapel windows!" So I did and then ran for my camera and this was the result.

After that I kinda' got hooked on them, as many of us are. I took each window individually, took each one with its reflection on the adjacent wall and even took a number of shots of the floor.

A couple of times I got very lucky and caught some of the colors going through a glass or plastic piece in the environment in the center of the chapel. Once I got some through the plastic stands for the handbells and, of course, there's the "famous" Sunday morning photo that two or three of us took--through the Charlie Brown Christmas tree the year the light went right through its branches onto the wall behind it.

But there is one shot that I don't have, though I've tried: the sunlight through the north windows. It's very hard to catch as it has to be at sunset, with strong, bright sun and at just the right angle, which honestly, I don't know the best time of year for all of those conditions to occur. But I almost got it, at least I got a pale version of it, a couple of times. Someday, maybe.

P.S. I love to see visitors trying to take photos of them. Sometimes, if they don't seem to mind, I'll go in and suggest they stand in this spot or that spot and get a certain shot. It's very nice to share them, as everyone is just as taken with them as we are.

P.P.S. Another "window memory": whenever we have a professional photographer here, especially for the first time, we'll show him/her around, making suggestions on possible places for pictures that they could use with their article or interview. No matter how many place we suggest, at the end of the tour they are sure to say, "Could we go back to the chapel, I think that's where I want to set up a shot." 

The windows, of course, the windows!

Sunday, December 6, 2020

O Come Emmanuel

The Federation of St. Scholastica, an organization of 20 American Benedictine women's communities of which we are one, (there are three other federations in the country, also), will be celebrating its 100 year anniversary soon. To that end there is a page on the federation's website that is dedicated to pre-celebration events--one is the sharing of weekly reflections by various community members. This month and next I was asked to be that person. 

Many of my reflections are taken from ideas that came, over the years, from this blog. If you are interested in taking a look, you can find the first two weeks here.

Other news this weekend comes from the premier appearance of the handbell choir for the 2020-2021 season. Sunday's prayer included our playing of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"--fitting for the season. It came off without a hitch, as they say, but that is no small feat because we have two "rookies" in the choir of 10 ringers. Congrats Jen and Colleen on your debut--you were just great! Rookies no longer.



Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Duck Blinds Part 2

"The recent several-days windstorms blew many of the blinds across the road or onto the multi-purpose trail. One was even blown into one of the lagoon ponds. That is the reason for the support pole and the oddly positioned blind. Some of the blinds were even blown apart. During my Presque Isle run they were interesting sights, well over a dozen blown off moorings." This is the comment that my Duck Blind Part 1 received by community friend Victor R. Thanks so much Victor for sharing this fascinating first-person story of this year's duck blinds at Presque Isle.

Here is the final grouping: 


                                    This one seems to be in the water. I liked its side door!


Here's one we spied across Misery Bay--again in the water.


This one looked like it had a hard time in the storms Victor mentioned.


We almost missed this one. It's quite hidden from cars whizzing by.


Sunday, November 29, 2020

Nature Watch

Our local newspaper carries a weekly column every Saturday titled, "Nature Watch." This weekend part of the entry was this: "This week an estimated 50,000 ducks were concentrated about 2 miles off-shore from the entrance to Presque Isle State Park, and it is possible there might have even been as many as 100,000 birds."  

On Saturday afternoon we took a car ride around the peninsula, as it is locally known, and I got the idea to give readers of this blog a duck blind tour, as this is prime duck hunting season and the different configurations of the duck blinds are fascinating. Little did I know it would be so timely.

Here are three of the more interesting ones I found. Others will be coming in Duck Blind, Part 2 on Thursday.


I'm not quite sure why all the camouflage. 
Doesn't it look like some sort of sci-fi woods monster!


This is a much more common looking one, 
except for the piece of wood appearing to hold it up.
I'm not sure what that's for.


This is a very nice one, wheel chair accessible...

except that it wasn't positioned along the shoreline of the bay as were all the rest. 

It was across the road. Maybe it just hasn't been positioned yet or 

maybe these hunters catch the ducks flying over land on their way to the water???

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Thanksgiving 2020

 Since we aren't able to have guests this year....as everywhere else in the world, it seems, I thought I share a couple photos of Thanksgiving scenes here at the Mount. You'll see them next year when you come!


Here's the simple yet lovely place settings for our noon dinner Thursday.
We sit four at a table during this distancing time.


Here are the two niches in chapel, both with ferns and grasses. 
Again, simple, yet beautiful.


Some of the Christmas cacti in the library are blooming now, too.

I'll show those next week: red, salmon, white and yellow.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Thanksgiving week


 This photo doesn't really do justice to the sunset one day last week. But I tried! This is the time of year when we get these lovely, bright orange, yellow, panoramic sunsets at about 5:15 pm when the sky is clear of clouds. This one is right outside our front door, with Benedict in the foreground. 



Here's one that turned out a little better. Our Presque Isle state park has entered a really bleak period: there is very little color since the leaves and flowers are gone. And there is no snow cover yet to bring those beautiful Norman Rockwell-like winter scenes. Everything is brown and tan and quite uninspiring. A place that only locals could love! And we do. Here is Horseshoe Pond and a photo that I've taken a hundred times--but with the water almost like glass, I couldn't resist yet another: one of the two dozen houseboats and its perfect reflection. Not so bad for a bleak period!

Otherwise the days are going along here. Erie County is having an upsurge in COVID-19 cases. They can't even do much contact tracing anymore, because the daily numbers and the spread are too great. We are being faithful to masks, distancing, hand washing and little presence in public or even private group gathering outside of "our household" as they refer to it. 

Thanksgiving will be muted here, too. Our sisters who would normally travel out of town to visit parents, siblings or friends will be visiting via Facetime, telephone calls or texts. We are trying to reach out to the needs of our area, too...with financial donations and through contacts in our ministries, with our employees and in responding to any need that is brought to our attention. I am sure that you are doing the same. I read this line recently and thought it was perfect: Be safe, stay healthy, help others.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Snow showers predicted

 

Anticipation is rising here...the other day we had what's called "snow showers." That's sort of like fluffy rain or half snowflakes coming down fast. Then the next day we had what the newspaper called "a trace" of snow. which means that there was the slightest covering of snow, but too small to be measured. It's always made me wonder if the "manna" in the biblical story would sort of been like that.

The point of this story is that no one has won our First Day of Snow contest.....yet! You see, the house rules, so to speak, say that the local paper is the "judge" of the contest and they have to report at least 0.1" of snow and we haven't had that amount yet this season.

When you're rather housebound as we are and very limited in any serious visiting or shopping, you have to make your own fun at home. And this contest one of our recent ways of making our own fun. (Yes, there is even a prize!) The upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are sure to bring lots more.Stay tuned to this station!

Sunday, November 15, 2020

In Between November

 November is an in between month for us--especially this year. In just the first half of the month we have had a week of record-setting high temperatures for each date and another week of cold and pre-winter days.

This weekend Saturday was cool but added lots of sun to balance it out. Sunday, on the other hand, was cool, also, but a wild, strong November wind and rainstorm swept through the area for a couple hours in the afternoon. 

Here are two scenes from this weekend:


The 7:00 am sunrise on Saturday morning.


Our beautiful and much-loved willow tree in the backyard
was toppled by the ferocious wind and rains Sunday afternoon. (VL)

I have 10 new trees from this summer's plantings that we just "winterized" so that they will make it through the upcoming snow and winds. Maybe one of two of them will be able to take our willow's place.


Thursday, November 12, 2020

Better late....

Well, since it's still Thursday I'm not really too late with my post today! Yes, I forgot....but thanks to my friend I'll get in right under the "midnight" wire. 

Like many (good) bloggers I'm going to share with you one of the most delightful/unique things that happened in my day. Here it is. I promise you'll love it and maybe forgive me for being late!

A trip to Mongolia....enjoy. Click here. 



Sunday, November 8, 2020

Combining patriotism and faith

 So, all you Catholics/Christians out there, did you catch the great combination of patriotism (the American eagle) and faith ("He will raise you up on eagle's wings") that president-elect Joe Biden included in his address to the nation Saturday night?! 

In case it had you humming that great hit of the 80s, but maybe not able to come up with all the lyrics, here you go: enjoy. "Eagle's Wings"




Wednesday, November 4, 2020

November's experiences


 Capturing an autumn tree at Glinodo, with its reflection. (JF)


It's mushroom time here and there is no better place
than along side the boardwalk down to the lake. (JF)


Not a moment of artistic beauty, this is part of the line
I was in to vote at 7:00 am Tuesday. 
It started at Fairfield Firehouse, extended out
to East Lake Rd and then alongside the road,
which is where we picked it up.

I was #30 to vote in the A-L line, the M-Z 
probably had the same number. The
line was longer than the one there in 2008,
Obama's first election. 

Sunday, November 1, 2020

All Saints-All Souls

Again we have the first two days of November, which in the Christian calendar has us praying for and remembering saints and souls both from the past and those with us in the present. The prayers and hymns are really lovely and so meaningful.

The weather here in Erie is entering its two and sometimes three seasons in a single day. We are having rain and wind a lot but also 50 degrees and very nice fall afternoons when the sun comes along. 

Here's a recent autumn shot along Seven-Mile Creek as it winds its way through our grounds:


And here is one of many seed pods that hang in our larch tree. I have one of our novices to thank for this shot, as I didn't even know these things were on this favorite of all trees. It is currently in its beautiful gold phase and is always the last one that will lose its leaves. Fortunately, we recently planted another larch in the front yard and it is already showing the same patterns of the mature one in the back.





Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Feast days and feasting days!

We're having one of those schizophrenic days this coming Saturday. In the morning we'll pray the psalms for any Saturday, but by evening prayer it will be the Vigil of All Saints for November 1. And not to miss that Saturday night we're having a Halloween party!

I was thinking about going as RBG, especially after I found a roll of 3" lace in the sewing room...but I'm just too tall to make it real. (If any of my shorter friends are reading this, see me for the lace needed for your black robe!!)

All Saints, November 1, and All Souls, November 2, are really lovely feasts to celebrate. Lots of special hymns, readings and prayers. Our community's November program allows us to dedicate the entire month to remembering our living and deceased family and friends--a very nice practice. 




Sunday, October 25, 2020

The realities of hunger

This community weekend brought a number of discussions and information on topics in the community right now. One that caught my attention was a summary of our local Food Bank's programs by a sister who has been there for over three decades! I didn't know the particulars that she shared and was impressed by the 12 programs that they currently run and the scope and range of the people they serve in the 11 counties of northwest Pennsylvania. 

The amount of food they provide and the variety of places and people that receive it range from school children to military veterans, food pantries to low income seniors. It was heartening to learn how much of their food is donated from local stores, farms and agencies.

In conclusion she reminded us that if we come upon people in need of food there is certainly a program in the Food Bank network that can help them. I hope that if all of this exists in Erie, that there might be something similar in the place where you live. Thank you, Karen, for your longtime dedication to the hungry poor among us.




 

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Current events

 This week my friend's "blog door" is more of a visual current events meditation. Always good for a smile or head shake. Interjecting humor into some of these issues is a real challenge.






Sunday, October 18, 2020

Leaves

 


This weekend we welcomed two women to the novitiate. You can or will be able soon to read about the ceremony on our website. We are blessed and I hope they feel the same.

Otherwise it was a very fall-like weekend: cooler temps, rain occasionally, college football on Saturday and the Steelers vs the Browns on Sunday afternoon. Another sure sign of the change in seasons is the change in clothes. All of a sudden all the browns and oranges, tans and olive greens appear. The sister who sits right in front of me in chapel has a sweatshirt that has a bouquet of fall flowers on the front. But it's the single red-orange maple leaf on the back that catches my eye every time she wears it. It's trimmed in a sort of muted gold glitter with gold rope-like tails coming from the single leaf. It screams "October," but in this scenario...of course, whispers it.

There was even a "West Wing" showing in the community room---in connection with the upcoming West Wing reunion-type show to encourage voting and, I'm sure, to remind us of better days through a great TV show and its message of hope and promise.



Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Four Seasons or not

One day at lunch this week I was in a conversation that included two young 20-something gals who are living and working in Erie with us for awhile. At one point the talk got around to the beautiful colors of fall that are quickly encompassing our area. I'm still chuckling inside at the differences that came out as our weather conversation continued.

You see, one gal is from Michigan, close enough to the Great Lakes so that her experience of autumn and the-sure-to-follow-winter is pretty much as ours is. The other one, however, is from the Atlantic shore area--eastern Maryland. I knew that she (and we) were in for a great time this year when she, proudly, mentioned that she had bought and brought with her brand new snow boots and a heavy winter coat---already, in October! Oh my, as they say, our reputation precedes us.

Not to worry--we talked about how beautiful a white world becomes with fresh snowfall, and a white Christmas, and cold, fresh walks on the snowcovered sidewalks. Have you ever tried cross country sking, someone piped in? Or ice skating? 

I finally summed it up, as I often do before a visitor's eyes glaze over, "Erie's weather is really beautiful, you just have to appreciate (and love?) all four seasons--because we have each one--intensely." 

And BTW, our summer WAS just beautiful! 





Sunday, October 11, 2020

The leaves are coming down

We had a chance to do a very "autumn-like" thing this week, we visited the updated and expanded Wintergreen gorge trails--about 6 miles from our place, just south of the Penn State Behrend campus. I hadn't been on the old trail in ages and found the new ones quite marvelous. There must have been 25-30 cars in the parking lot, many overflowing from the designated places to the No Parking areas along the road! But, it didn't seem crowded at all, a testament I suppose, to its size, I think it's about 4 miles long in its entirety. Anyway, we were among families with children, people walking their dog, Behrend College students and miscellaneous folks such as we were. 

This is my favorite shot from the day, a four-year old walking with her older sister and her Dad, shaking the tree to see the leaves fall. Happy autumn.


Our leaves haven't reached their peak yet, but they are close. On the other hand one of our sisters said to me this weekend, "Are you getting your first-day-of-snow contest ready to put up?" I said, "No, I am not!" Imagine---(But I will have to get it up before the end of the month.)

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

A Trip to the Zoo

 Cape May Court House, the shore town we spent some time in recently, has a marvelous zoo. It is quite large and includes a large playground for the 3-10 year old age group. The day we were there, a cloudy,  non-beach day, we were part of a big crowd of pre-schoolers and their parents. The variety of baby carriages and strollers was amazing! Did I mention that admittance is Free? Amazing!

Here are some of the best pictures I caught.